Contains character death and sadness. Read at your own risk.
Xena coughed harshly on the smoke from the burning temple. Her hands were sweaty on the hilt of her dual swords as she limped towards the cliffside hut where she had told Gyatso to take a terrified Aang. She had fought the troops of Fire Nation soldiers for as long as she could, trying to save the lives of as many pacifist monks as she could. She couldn't remember how many soldiers she had killed and how many monks she had seen die before she could reach them. No matter how hard she fought she couldn't make a difference, but she had still tried. It took an order from Head Monk Pasang before she finally left the battle to go back to the young twelve year old monk who wasn't even aware of who he really was.
"Monk Gyatso! Aang!" Xena called as she parted the beaded curtain leading into the hut. "We need to-"
She broke off and staggered back into the hut wall. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared wide eyed at the burnt and bloodied corpses, lying against the backwall. Her swords fell from her hands with a resounding clang and her knees buckled beneath her. She raised blood and ash stained hands up to her mouth. Her breath rushed out of her and a piercing scream of grief and horror filled her ears.
Who was screaming? Pain tore through her throat and a salty coppery taste settled heavily onto her tongue. Oh, that was her. Her stomach flipped and she leaned forward as it decided to empty itself of its contents.
"Where are they?" Drake demanded as he stormed into the Beifong estate, followed closely by Raiden. "Are they okay?"
Tanvi and Temari stared at him with a silent sadness. Temari shook her head and Drake began to rush towards the guest rooms where Xena and Aang usually stayed when they visited the twins.
"Wait, Drake!" Tanvi cried and grabbed his arm. "There's something you have to know first."
"I don't need to know anything. I just need to see my fiancée."
"Aang's dead," Temari told him grabbing his other arm.
"He's … what? No, that's not possible. Xena would have protected him."
Raiden placed a hand on his bestfriends shoulder. "Is Xena hurt?"
"She's fine physically," Temari answered him. "But mentally… She killed so many soldiers trying to protect the monks and it was all for nothing. Everything she trained for and everything she's had to suffer for is gone."
"The doctor says she has survivor's guilt," Tanvi added.
Drake shook them off and began walking once more towards the guest rooms.
"Drake…" Temari started but trailed off as Raiden touched her shoulder and shook his head.
When Drake entered the room, he paused for a moment to light a flame so he could see in the dark room. Xena was curled into the fetal position in the center of the bed, staring blankly at the wall. He slowly approached and dropped to his knees beside her, carefully pulling her into a hug. At first she remained unresponsive and before relaxing into his hold and burying her face in his shirt as she began to stung his eyes as well, but he didn't let them fall as he tightened his hug.
"You didn't think we were going to let you leave without us right?" Temari demanded from her position in Appa's saddle.
Xena stared at her blankly before glancing to the other three sitting in the saddle. "Just don't get in my way."
Drake frowned at the girl's iciness. It had been two and a half years since Aang had died and Xena had only grown colder. Xena climbed onto Appa's head and gave him the order to take off. It took the bison longer than it once had to lift off the ground. With the death of his master, Appa had slowly begun to waste away. If it weren't for Xena and the twins - mostly Xena though - it was likely that the airbison would have starved himself in his grief. He hoped this trip would do both him and Xena some good.
"I've never been to the South Pole before," Tanvi said with a bright smile that never reached her eyes. "Do you think it'll be cold?"
"Of course, it'll be cold," Temari snapped and Tanvi flinched.
Raiden reached out a hand to calm the irate earthbender only to have his hand smacked away harshly. Perhaps this trip would also repair the frayed bounds of their friendship.
"Does Kaori know we're coming?" Drake asked Xena, desperately hoping that their waterbender friend could help him hold this group together once the got to the South Pole.
"I sent a letter ahead, so she should be expecting us."
Tanvi was the first of them to die. She'd fallen into the ocean a month after they had first arrived in the South Pole and as fast as Xena had jumped in to save her, it wasn't fast enough to stop the normally cheerful girl from getting sick. In the two weeks, she'd fought against pneumonia, the acrobat lost the optimistic mask that she usually refused to leave her twin's bedside and Xena and stayed with them as often as she could in an effort to use her healing knowledge to save Tanvi.
A year later, Raiden went missing on a seal hunt. It was believed that he was either eaten by a polar beardog or by wolves. With his disappearance, Tamsin realized that in her grief and sadness since first losing Aang and then losing Tanvi that she had pushed him away in fear of losing him and now he was truly gone. The earthbender dedicated her attention to the care of a pregnant Kaori who had become Raiden's widow with his disappearance.
Appa finally gave up on life and died a few months later. Xena mourned his loss as heavily as she had Aang's and their other two friends' threw herself into using her bond to the Avatar to sense when and where he - or she - would be born next. That answer became clear when Kaori finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy that was able to bend not only water, but fire and earth as well at the edge of two. Unfortunately, his mother wasn't around to see his achievement as she had bled out due to complications during the birth.
Xena, Drake, and Temari as the only remaining three were left to raise and protect the boy. Drake was relieved to see both girls growing closer and becoming less weighed down by all of the loss and grief as they tended to the outgoing boy, named Kaorden after both his parents. By the time the boy was eight, they had all reconnected with each other and were able to function better than they had in years and were able to finally be happy again.
However, that happiness couldn't and wouldn't last forever. The Fire Nation attacked the Southern Water Tribe to kill the young Avatar before he could become grown enough to put a stop to the war. Xena and Drake had been out on a whale hunt that day and when Xena had realized that something was wrong back at the village, they had quickly turned back. They were too late though and when they arrived back the village was almost completely destroyed with survivors crying over the bodies of their loved ones. Xena had jumped out of the boat before it was even docked, swimming through the water and then rushing to the hut on the outskirts of the village where they lived.
When Drake caught up with her, the Guardian was crying over the bodies of both Kaorden and Temari, who had died protecting the boy. Twenty-eight-years-old and both Xena and Drake had lost everything they cared for. Everything except each other. Xena was never the same person she was when Drake first fell in love with her, but neither was Drake. The two of them would survive this together.
"Where's Drake now?"
Xena smiled at the six-year-old waterbender. "He's in the Spirit World now with all our other friends waiting for me to join him."
"That's kind of sad," Katara said with a frown.
Xena laughed and then began to cough harshly. Katara grabbed the blankets in worry, but relaxed as the elderly waterbender relaxed back onto the bed.
"Perhaps it is a bit sad, but I must admit. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again."
"Will Aang be there?"
"Part of his spirit will be waiting there, but as the Avatar, Aang has already been reborn into the world for a second time."
Katara smiled. "I bet he'll be super old then."
"On the contrary," Xena started and placed a hand on the girl's dark hair. "He is actually a girl like you and is three years younger in fact."
"Really," She grinned brightly. "Then that would make her, umm…"
Xena smiled again as the girl's brow furrowed in thought. "Three."
"Three!" The girl repeated cheerfully and then sobered. "Do you think I can ever meet him?"
"Her. And anything can happen if you make it. In fact, maybe someday you'll find the Avatar and teach her how to waterbend and maybe you'll travel with her to defeat the Fire Nation."
Katara's eyes gleamed. "Yeah, I'll grow up to be strong like you, Xena. And I'll be sure to find the Avatar."
"Katara, it's time to go," A kindly voice said from the tent opening. "Run along home now."
"Okay, mom."
Katara scampered out of the tent as Kya entered. "I'm sorry if she was bothering you. I know she has a ceaseless curiosity."
"It's fine, dear. In fact, I am glad that I was able to share my story with someone before I pass."
"Oh, don't speak like that. You've been around all my life and I'm sure you'll be around a couple of more."
Xena shook her head. "It's time I moved on, dear. I have people waiting for me."
"We'll miss you if you go, Gran."
"Aye, but someday we'll meet again and may it be far off into the future, my sweet granddaughter. Now hurry home to your children and husband."
"Goodnight, Gran."
"Goodnight, dear."
Xena smiled and sank down into the furs covering her frail form. "I always wondered why it was you never reincarnated earlier, Aang. But then again, knowing you perhaps I shouldn't be surprised."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "I'll see you soon, everybody. Wait for me."
I'll be honest. This oneshot was just a way for me to break my writer's block at first, but it became so much more as I wrote it and I almost cried several times while writing this. There is some description I wanted to include with this oneshot to explain exactly how the begining events would have enfolded the way they did.
If Aang had never been told he was the Avatar, he would have no need to run away from the temple and wouldn't end up in the iceberg so he would be around when the temple was attacked. I imagine that in an effort to ensure Aang's survival they would have tried to get him away from the fighting. Since Aang didn't know he was the Avatar, he also wouldn't have known that Xena was his Guardian and so wouldn't have been angry with her. Without Aang being angry at her, Xena wouldn't be as paranoidly attuned to his thoughts or emotions. She would assume Aang was safe and would fight to protect the rest of the monks. As for how she doesn't actually sense Aang's death, that is due to the strange influence that Sozin's Comet had on her.
As for the ending, I wanted it to be bittersweet and I'm not entirely sure if I succeeded. That's up to you guys to decide. As for Xena's relation to Kya at the end, that was just a spur of the moment thing.
Feel free to ask any questions you have about this oneshot. If you have any other what if's for my story that you're interested in getting the answer for, feel free to ask that as well and I'll see what I can do to answer it. Long ass author note done, you can leave a review now.
No, seriously you can drop a review in that box right down there.
Kidding, kidding. I would never force anyone to drop a review. However, they are nice.
-Wolf the Crybaby
Playlist: "Here Comes a Thought" from Steven Universe played on loop
